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Sparkle Yarn recommended by Gary LaFontaine

Are you a fan of Gary LaFontaine? Are you a fan of his ground-breaking book Caddisflies? If you like tying and fishing the famous Emergent Sparkle Pupa and Deep Sparkle Pupa flies that Gary innovated, this yarn selection will suit you.

In a follow-up to Gary's 1981 book Caddisflies, he recommends Dazzle and Dazzle-Aire yarns with clear, light-reflecting filaments for tying his deadly flies. Vintage skeins of "Sparkle Yarn" are still out there, but it's hard to find the colors in Gary's pattern-by-pattern descriptions. (By the way, I have never seen a vintage yarn with the word Antron on the label. Thus, I procured yarns Gary recommended that can be found by searching auctions)

It took several years but I found every yarn color to tie the top patterns in Gary's Caddisflies in the vintage brands Dazzle and Dazzle-Aire, as he recommended. The original skein labels are shown in my photos.

I now have 50 cards to sell with the 10 required sparkle yarn colors spooled on each card. Each color is represented by a 10-foot length of yarn for tying loads of flies. Only a 1/2" is needed per fly. You can tie every pattern in Caddisflies using this simple card. The colors will be spelled out in a full-length letter accompanying your purchase, and they will be easily associated with the colors given by Gary in Caddisflies.

When studying the yarn, you will see the clear (60% creslan) filaments mixed in with the colored (40% nylon) filaments. Each color has a "frosted" appearance due to a mixture of CLEAR and COLORED filaments. This vintage yarn is different than today's mono-dyed sparkle yarns and "antron" yarns that lack clear filaments. It is a true combination of clear and colored filaments as recommended in Caddisflies.

I'm NOT here to argue the original Antron used by Gary. I won't say anything other than I found some commercial yarns he clearly specified in all the necessary colors. I made up a bunch of cards with every color, and want to share it with you for a reasonable price. Stock is limited. I will gladly accept returns and refund your money if you are unsatisfied, but I know you will enjoy this product.

Re: Sparkle Yarn recommended by Gary LaFontaine

Those things are hard to tie, I just tie an iris caddis, use antron or zelon, catch plenty of fish. Send me a card, and I'll tie you iris caddis' with them and send them back, you won't be disappointed.

How did people even fish before all these different "set-ups" and special lines. Mid flex rods, full flex, fast, medium slow fast, medium fast slower but still quick...and the different lines....Holy...